I don’t know the size of the city that Veta emigrated from but I do know you now both live in a small market town …. similar to myself.

Where I live is a far cry (both positive and negative) from the likes of most major Ukrainian cities, so I would personal be very interested to learn how Veta has adapted to her new surroundings?

For example: The future Mrs Vinnvinny might be surprised when she finds out that she is going to have to learn to drive as public transport is just about non existent, and only the rich can afford taxis. She might be surprised upon the amount of chavs, drunks and general rowdiness that she will encounter on a Friday and Saturday night … and the males aren’t much better either. I suspect that she will definitely fall in love with TK Max though…………..

A couple of years back I had a Czech girl and her son come to to live with me in the UK. Her first shock was that he was bullied at his new school. It didn't surprise me as I tried to tell her what would happen if he didn't stop being so 'mouthy'.

She loved TK Maxx and even Matalan, she was in shopping heaven. After a few months here she said she understood why everyone was so fat .... tasty food for tasty dishes.

Worst moment was her first time driving here ... she didn't know what to do at a round-a-bout as they don't really have them in CZ. Of course it didn't help that she had done what most of her fellow country peeps do when the failed their driving test ... she had bought her licence, and it showed. I had to book her a (long) course of driving lessons.

Actually, the worst moment was after I taught her the 'C' word and she used a few days later in my local Tesco's when some old lady bumped her trolley.

Veta's city is just under 1 million and she lives on the edge of a Glos'shire town with a population of 45 K !

We have Gloucester, Cheltenham, Bath , Bristol, Worcester and Swindon within an hour.. which was about how long a bus ride home was for her from the left to right bank of her environs ..

So, she can deal with alcoholic men or have me for company ( in the car )

When she needs to 'escape' from me she can take a train to Swindon or London or a bus to Cheltenham ( preferred to Gloucester -until the new dockside shopping outlet opened )

It was HARD for her to adjust... she said, "I like having people around and not standing out" .. she feels that Stroud is pretty unique.. they knit their own yoghurt ( it is pretty bohemian ) but she feels TOTALLY safe.

I found the trick was to go out walking lots and I listened for Russian speakers and walked right up to them is I heard the accent .. Now she can meet up with 'the girls'...

Having a child is 'useful' as they will make new friends and a Russian partner sort of HAS to mix

I have NO idea how Veta will feel when she comes back - I DO know that having her son here REALLY helps.. he loves it here and he doesn't want to go back.

I make sure she sees something interesting every 3 weeks or so - and throw in a Russian theatre / ballet / ice-show. she has Russian TV, but increasingly chooses to watch UK TV ...

Being honest she is grateful for my efforts and therefore easy to please.. but even so, now and again, she complains that she needs to lean too heavily on me and felt more independent in Russia ;)

She didn't trust our doctors [ "they don't prescribe" ] and now - having paid for lots of tests in Russia - believes "all they want to do is charge for medicines" !

When the time comes for a lady to come to the UK, pray it is sunny and the grass is green - Veta came from Cyprus to check it out and preferred the UK to beach life and 'boring winters'

I guess having your lady meet with a lady who likes the UK and is happy with her man would 'help' as they can truthfully put out the 'bad' but re-enforce the 'good'

Veta's city is just under 1 million and she lives on the edge of a Glos'shire town with a population of 45 K !

Veta comes from a BIG city by our standards and Stroud is twice the size of my little hovel.

msmobyru wrote:

We have Gloucester, Cheltenham, Bath , Bristol, Worcester and Swindon within an hour.. which was about how long a bus ride home was for her from the left to right bank of her environs ..

Cheltenham is only down the road so I had considered moving there if appropriate. Nice place too.

msmobyru wrote:

It was HARD for her to adjust... she said, "I like having people around and not standing out" .. she feels that Stroud is pretty unique.. they knit their own yoghurt ( it is pretty bohemian ) but she feels TOTALLY safe.

We don’t do yoghurt knitting here, just Asparagus and incest.

msmobyru wrote:

I found the trick was to go out walking lots and I listened for Russian speakers and walked right up to them is I heard the accent .. Now she can meet up with 'the girls'...

We have a ready supply of Slovaks and Poles on hand so Mrs Vinny might have to adapt … they’re almost the same anyway.

msmobyru wrote:

I make sure she sees something interesting every 3 weeks or so - and throw in a Russian theatre / ballet / ice-show. she has Russian TV, but increasingly chooses to watch UK TV ...

I see that you take Veta out and about quite a bit. I’m making notes.

msmobyru wrote:

Having a child is 'useful' as they will make new friends and a Russian partner sort of HAS to mix

I suspect how the offspring settle in could be a deal maker or breaker.

msmobyru wrote:

When the time comes for a lady to come to the UK, pray it is sunny and the grass is green - Veta came from Cyprus to check it out and preferred the UK to beach life and 'boring winters'

Learning Dutch to a street-understanding-level ... she now speaks/listens as a 5-year-old, meaning she can understand and take part in most easy conversations.

That is pretty impressive, kudos! Has it been a frustrating process for her to learn Dutch? I fear my wife has a long and frustrating path ahead of her trying to learn Norwegian, there are so many vastly different dialects here that it is ridiculous...

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